Heinrich Schurtz

Schurtz Heinrich ( born December 11, 1863 in Zwickau, † May 2, 1903 in Bremen ) was a German ethnologist and historian. Until today his work is cited ages and men passing of 1902, in which he first highlights the central importance of frets for the social order of non-European peoples.

Life and work

Schurtz qualified as a pupil of Friedrich Ratzel in 1891 in Leipzig and in 1893 assistant at the ethnographic museum of natural history, ethnology and commercial customer in Bremen.

As a reaction and separation to the thesis of the Swiss historian Johann Jakob Bachofen by a matriarchal origin of mankind, led Schurtz with his work ages and Männerbünde the concept of male society in the ethnographic literature and sat Bachofen designed gender dichotomy is a dichotomy of male bonding and family contrary, which would set the process of cultural creation in motion. He dealt hardly with European conditions, but made from anthropological object of men's house at the so-called " primitive peoples " basis, as the origin of men passing the "pure Gesellungstrieb " the man - as opposed to the " motionless - family-centered woman " - from that, therefore, the actual support of almost all higher social development are.

Heinrich Schurtz died at the age of 39 after a short illness on appendicitis.

Writings

• Outlines of a philosophy of dress: ( with special reference to Negroes costumes ). Cotta, Stuttgart 1893.
• Catechism of Ethnology. JJ Weber, Leipzig 1893. (Online, Internet Archive )
• Outline of a history of money. Felber, Weimar 1898.
• Prehistory of the culture. Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig / Wien 1900. (Online, Internet Archive )
• Ages and men Frets: An illustration of the basic forms of society. Reimer, Berlin 1902. (Online, Internet Archive )

• The throwing knife of the Negro: A contribution to the ethnography of Africa. In: International Archives of Ethnography. Trap, Leiden, among other things, Volume 2, 1889, pp. 9-31 ( online, including PDF, 21.6 MB).